At 12:20pm today, in the Sala Clementina at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father, Pope Francis received in audience members of the International Catholic Association in Service to Youth (ACISJF) who are in Rome for their General Assembly.
Dear brothers and sisters,
I welcome you, members of the International Catholic Association of Services for Young Women, on the occasion of your General Assembly. You hope to find in these places the momentum that was at the origin of your Association, with the support of my predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, and to demonstrate your faithfulness to the Successor of Peter.
I wish to express my gratitude for your generous commitment to the service of the youth who live in precarious situations and in much suffering. Their growing number and the many forms of poverty that affect them must inspire new creativity, in order to offer them the material and spiritual support they need. Yes, it is truly a joy to serve others like Jesus did. Through ongoing hospitable activities - what need these young people have for welcome, what great need for welcome - and also through reflection in order to confront the new challenges generated by today's world, like the phenomenon of migration, your work strives to be at the service of life and of the dignity of persons, bearing witness to the fact that authentic faith in the Son of God made flesh is inseparable from the gift itself ... of service (Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii gaudium, 88). The youth that you accompany need your attention and your listening ear most of all. That very human and very divine apostolate of the ears is tiring, very tiring, but it does so much good! They need it. In this way, you can help them to grow in trust, to find points of reference and to advance in human and spiritual maturity, nourished by gospel values. May you be credible witnesses for them, so that they may experience the joy of knowing that they are loved by God, their Father, and called to be happy!
At the same time, I invite you to allow yourselves to be taught by these young people to whom you are close and who have received your help. Even in their difficulty, they often testify to the essential virtues of fraternity and solidarity. We also remind them that we are fragile and dependent on God and on others. May the merciful gaze of the Father touch us and help us to welcome our poverty in order to continue in trust and to commit ourselves to the revolution of tenderness - this is your challenge: to create a revolution of tenderness. Jesus has opened the way to this revolution through his Incarnation. It is good to be his missionary disciples, to console, to illuminate, to soothe, to listen, to free and to accompany. The experience that He has given us through his Resurrection is a vial strength that penetrates the world (cf EG, 276) and on which you can lean every day, for it responds to the heart's deepest longings.
Dear friends, I hope that sentiments of belonging to the Church, which is a large family, will grow in you. I invite you to continue proclaiming to everyone the joy of the gospel, taking into consideration the diversity of cultures, of religious traditions, of the origins of the youth who you desire to serve, and also the gifts that must be respectfully accepted. May the fraternity be affirmed among you, in order that your mission in service to these little ones, for whom Jesus has a special love, come to fruition! I entrust you to the intercession of the Virgin Mary and I ask God to fill you with his blessings, as well as the young people you work with and their families, and I ask you please to pray for me.
Speech of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
for the meeting with members of the
International Catholic Association of Services for Young Women
Dear brothers and sisters,
I welcome you, members of the International Catholic Association of Services for Young Women, on the occasion of your General Assembly. You hope to find in these places the momentum that was at the origin of your Association, with the support of my predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, and to demonstrate your faithfulness to the Successor of Peter.
I wish to express my gratitude for your generous commitment to the service of the youth who live in precarious situations and in much suffering. Their growing number and the many forms of poverty that affect them must inspire new creativity, in order to offer them the material and spiritual support they need. Yes, it is truly a joy to serve others like Jesus did. Through ongoing hospitable activities - what need these young people have for welcome, what great need for welcome - and also through reflection in order to confront the new challenges generated by today's world, like the phenomenon of migration, your work strives to be at the service of life and of the dignity of persons, bearing witness to the fact that authentic faith in the Son of God made flesh is inseparable from the gift itself ... of service (Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii gaudium, 88). The youth that you accompany need your attention and your listening ear most of all. That very human and very divine apostolate of the ears is tiring, very tiring, but it does so much good! They need it. In this way, you can help them to grow in trust, to find points of reference and to advance in human and spiritual maturity, nourished by gospel values. May you be credible witnesses for them, so that they may experience the joy of knowing that they are loved by God, their Father, and called to be happy!
At the same time, I invite you to allow yourselves to be taught by these young people to whom you are close and who have received your help. Even in their difficulty, they often testify to the essential virtues of fraternity and solidarity. We also remind them that we are fragile and dependent on God and on others. May the merciful gaze of the Father touch us and help us to welcome our poverty in order to continue in trust and to commit ourselves to the revolution of tenderness - this is your challenge: to create a revolution of tenderness. Jesus has opened the way to this revolution through his Incarnation. It is good to be his missionary disciples, to console, to illuminate, to soothe, to listen, to free and to accompany. The experience that He has given us through his Resurrection is a vial strength that penetrates the world (cf EG, 276) and on which you can lean every day, for it responds to the heart's deepest longings.
Dear friends, I hope that sentiments of belonging to the Church, which is a large family, will grow in you. I invite you to continue proclaiming to everyone the joy of the gospel, taking into consideration the diversity of cultures, of religious traditions, of the origins of the youth who you desire to serve, and also the gifts that must be respectfully accepted. May the fraternity be affirmed among you, in order that your mission in service to these little ones, for whom Jesus has a special love, come to fruition! I entrust you to the intercession of the Virgin Mary and I ask God to fill you with his blessings, as well as the young people you work with and their families, and I ask you please to pray for me.
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